Springfield’s public safety agencies are planning to hold the line on spending and hiring in the fiscal year that begins March 1.

Acting Police Chief Ken Winslow and Fire Chief Ken Fustin presented their budget proposals to the city council Monday night. Both call for modest spending increases mainly driven by increasing personnel costs. Neither department is asking to hire new employees beyond those in its current budget.

The police department plans to spend $43.97 million in the coming year, a 2 percent increase from the current year. The fire department’s plan calls for spending $35.81 million, 1 percent more than this year.

“It’s a maintenance budget that we’ve prepared for the fourth straight year,” said Winslow, who went first in presenting his budget proposal to aldermen.

Costs associated with the department’s 249 sworn officers and 40 civilian employees are expected to increase to $37.8 million, up 3.1 percent from this year. Spending in nearly every other category is expected to go down, with the exception of a $1,300 increase in travel.

Personnel costs account for about 87 percent of the department’s corporate fund budget.

Winslow, who took over as acting chief following the retirement of Robert Williams this summer amid the city’s police document shredding scandal, said current staffing levels are sufficient to meet the department’s needs.

“At 249 right now, I think we’re doing fine,” he said.

There are currently three vacancies for officers, putting the actual count of sworn police officers at 246.

Among the challenges facing the department is recruiting a diverse workforce, Winslow said.

Fewer than 12 percent of sworn officers are women and less than 8 percent are minorities.

“It’s below where we want it to be, obviously,” Winslow said after his presentation.

The department will have to continue its efforts to recruit more minorities, but doing so can be a challenge when the police force isn’t growing, he said.

One prominent hire the department is expected to make this year is a new permanent police chief. Mayor Mike Houston said after the budget hearing that the selection process is moving along and he expects to announce his choice soon.

The department plans to spend $35,000 on one new squad car using dedicated revenue from fees charged to people convicted of driving under the influence. That vehicle will be devoted to DUI enforcement, Winslow said.

That’s in addition to 40 new squad cars that the department plans to buy with funds from a $2 million loan. Those funds, some of which would be used for public works vehicles or other equipment, would come out of the budget of the Office of Budget and Management.

The fire department also is proposing a maintenance budget, Fustin said.

“We’re not doing anything extravagant whatsoever,” he said. “We’re maintaining what we have.”

Page 2 of 2 - The department’s limited resources mean it doesn’t have money to spend on increased fire prevention, public education or “any type of aggressive recruitment,” Fustin said.

The department’s budget proposal calls for 219 sworn firefighters, the same as the current year.

Fustin said the new contract the city approved for the firefighters union late last year will help slow the growth of wages and allow the department to operate more efficiently.

The budget includes money to retain 20 firefighters who were hired with a two-year federal grant that paid the $1.2 million annual cost of their salaries and benefits for two years.

The proposal also calls for spending $350,000 on a firetruck.

However, Fustin said, the money for that will come from selling two old trucks, and the city plans to purchase a used truck.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make it money in and money out,” he said.

The city council will hold its final departmental budget hearing tonight, with presentations from the mayor’s office and the Office of Budget and Management. A public hearing on the entire budget is scheduled for Feb. 11 following the council’s 5:30 p.m. committee of the whole meeting.